LED Guru question
 

Im a very diy type of person and am thinking of adding/possibly changing my lighting to LED's

To achieve the best color, shimmer and penetration for sps what is the ideal amount of led's to light my tank?

In a diy fixture would i be better to build several strips the length of the tank or smaller boxes which focus the light like halides?

tank dimensions
48" long
24"high
18"wide

I'll be honest, I haven't been following the big DIY LED thread for some time, but I can honestly say that there is no right way. The tighter you cluster the LED's, you going to get a hot spot in you lighting. If you looking for broad even lighting, spread them evenly across the tank. You can also really change up the intensity of your lighting by using optics.

Personally on my 180g tank, I used 4 10" x 10" heatsinks, and am loving it so far. I used all cool white and royal blue LED's and it just seemed that there was something missing. Just today I added in some warm white LED's and lets just say it was a move in the right direction. I'm sure I'll continue to tweak and tune the colors, but I'm definitely glad I went with LED's.

Several strips, spreading the LEDs out evenly, is best for most. Although clustering them can work well if you have high light areas and low light areas planned. Aluminum C channel, 1/8" thick, works very well for a heatsink, and is cheaper than typical heatsinks....check out speedymetals

what about a number for the amount of leds for the entire tank. I don't want to be limited by my lighting. Are 48, 72, 96......how many do i need to grow sps?

I think 48 would be good, with 65 degree optics. If you absolutely want to be sure, go 72, but build them dimmable because I'm pretty sure your going to fry some stuff.

Scott

I put 77 on my tank, a 4x2x2, and it was too much light. With 65 degree optics, I would shoot for 48 on yours.....I would still make those dimmable as well.

average of 1 led per 15 sq. inch